Custer State Park...Amazing Wildlife

Location: Game Lodge Campground, Custer Park, SD

 

This is our third time at Custer State Park and everytime we visit it's a completely different experience. All so good. This place is amazing!! After a bike ride to the Visitor Center we couldn't wait to drive thru the park. Fair warning...lots of cute animal pictures coming.

Ironically, General Custer died 140 years ago today at the Battle of the Little Bighorn.

Custer State Park is famous for its buffalo. Yep, saw a couple of herds. I caught this guy chomping away.

 

This one is carrying 2 birds on his back.

 

 

 

We spent a lot of time just hanging out watching the prairie dogs. These little guys are hilarious!

 

 

 

 

 

Lunch time.

 

 

These burros are not native to the Black Hills. They are descendants from the herd that once hauled visitors to the top of Harney Peak. The rides were discontinued years ago and the burros were released into the park. They now just hang out on the Wildlife Loop Road. They are pretty domesticated. Here is one coming up to our car and Ned feeding it some apples.

 

 

I got out to see if the baby burro wanted to eat some apples. He was still nursing so he wasn't interested in my apple. So, does this make him a "burrito?".

 

 

 

Hi Ned, I heard you got some apples there...

 

 

 

We also spotted a coyote

 

 

 

A fawn

 

 

 

 

 

And a pronghorn.

 

 

 

 

Ned photographing the photographer or maybe just another wild animal in her natural habitat...

We had lunch at the Game Lodge. There are several lodges throughout the park. This actually feels more like a National Park than a State Park with the lodges, campgrounds and visitor centers.

This lodge was known as the Summer White House for Calvin Coolidge in 1927. Dwight Eisenhower also used it as a summer residence in 1953.

 

 

 

 

Tonight we are enjoying our campsite, right next to a creek. We'll be here a couple of days so time to put up the hammock, pop a cold one, and enjoy the evening!

 

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South Dakota in all it's glory

Snake Creek State Park, SD

Okay, I'll admit I had very low expectations of Sioux Falls, SD. I thought it would be like so many of the struggling towns we see in the heartland. I was pleasantly surprised. The falls were pretty spectacular and the city had lots of outside cafes and tree lined streets.

The falls were actually a series of falls cascading over pink Sioux Quartzite.

This pic was taken from several stories high in the visitor's tower.

 

Turning around 180 deg. you can see the Morrell meat packing plant. They employ hundreds of people. This so explains why we kept hearing pork prices quoted on the radio. Next time you pick up a packet of Morrell sliced ham, this is where it's being processed.

 

In 1881, the largest flour mill was on the banks of this river next to the falls. It was 7 stories high, had a 100,000 bushel grain elevator, a warehouse that could hold 10,000 barrels, a turbine house, a gate house and a cooper shop where barrels were made. Wowza! Today it's just a ghost of what it used to be.

You can see it in the far upper left corner.

Today it is used for free music concerts on Saturday night during the summer! Sorry we were a day early. I would have loved to chill out here.

 

 

Sioux Falls has a sculpture walk you can do. There are 56 sculptures placed through-out the town. I promise I won't post pics of all 56 sculptures, really! They ranged from life like figures, to whimsical characters to abstract pieces. This one caught my eye, mainly because it reminds me of the sculpture pieces my brother-in-law Jerry Barrish does. It's called "Endless Summer" by Gregory Mendez.

 

 

 

Here's another one called "Circle of Friends" by Karen Crain. Every one of the pieces was mounted on the Sioux Quartzite. Really cool.

If anyone wants to see more, I have picked up a brochure on all the pieces.

 

Early this morning, we decided to visit the infamous Devil's Gulch. What you never heard of this "home of beauty, mystery & legend"?! As legend has it, it's the place that Jesse James made his famous jump with his horse over the chasm to get away from the posse chasing him. Yeah, who could pass up the opportunity to see this??

You also get to take a walking tour of the Devil's Gulch too. Be still my heart.

 

 

Here's Ned standing on the EXACT spot that Jesse James jumped with his horse! Today it has a steel open grate bridge across the chasm. It's quite a thrill to look down into the chasm.

And yes, that was quite the jump too!

 

 

 

 

The walk of beauty and mystery...meh. Kind of overgrown and lots of rocks to climb over. All I kept thinking was thank goodness my kids are grown and not munchkins doing this walk with me. There was ample opportunity to fall into the chasm.

Hard to get a perspective on this but the drop off is 40 or so feet. (There are signs saying things like "This spot is known as the bottomless pit. Many years ago a 600 ft. plumb line was lowered and no bottom was found.").

 

Other signs..."depending on the wind of the day, strange moaning sounds can be heard in Devil's Gulch. One will then easily understand how the canyon got its name.". Mmmm...I thought that was Ned's stomach growling saying time for breakfast.

 

Tonight we are camped along the powerful Missouri River. It's close to 90, but very windy. Thank goodness for that. Our afternoon was spent taking a nap on the grassy banks of this river. Ahhhh summer.

 

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Minneapolis, MN

Location: Palisades State Park, SD

We decided to poke around Minneapolis. We obviously picked some game day to do this. The traffic was grid-lock insane. So glad we have a 15 ft. vehicle to get around.

First impressions on things indicating that we are not in California...

#1 The insane amount of bricks used in buildings!

 

#2 Closed cross-walks for those really cold days. I love this picture. Covered cross-walks as far as the eye can see.

 

After a hectic morning navigating our way around the city, we decided to head for Minnehana Park.

Ah, so much more our style. Loved how green, luscious and beautiful this city park is.

 

 

Of course we had to visit the famous falls.

 

 

 

 

Ned listening to the audio tour of points of interest in the park via his iPhone.

 

 

 

We rode over to the Mississippi River to investigate the lock. On a previous trip we drove up the Great River Road next to the Mississippi River. We spent a lot of time exploring the locks on the river. I think there are 27 in all. It was fun to see lock #1 here.

We spent some time at the US Corp of Engineer Center reading about the locks and the river. So interesting! I'll never get tired of spending time around the Mighty Miss.

There's a great little restaurant in the park called Sea Salt. It has amazing fresh fish such as crawfish, oysters, crab cakes, and fresh fish tacos. Who could resist having a late lunch with a local beer here?

 

 

 

Tonight we're camped at this place that we stumbled upon. There's no other way to describe it but magical. We took a twilight bike ride and hike to further explore the park. Who knew that there would be these wonderful cliffs and a great creek in the prairie of South Dakota?

 

 

We walked through these huge cliffs, next to the river, and on the path were tons of fireflies lighting up everywhere. It was like the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, only better. Cool find Palisades State Park, thanks!

 

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Duluth, MN

Location: William O'Brien State Park, MN

 

We thought for a change of pace we'd explore Duluth MN. Last time we were there it was in the fall and sooo cold. When we arrived it was pleasant & sunny.

Here's the Duluth Harbor lighthouse.

 

 

We had just started to explore the downtown area via the Lakewalk when the weather changed to cold and windy. Quick trip back to Winnie to layer-up and we were off!

 

 

 

 

 

The Lakewalk is pretty impressive. There's paths for cyclists as well as pedestrians (and trains!) right next to Lake Superior.

 

 

Lots of cute restaurants, pubs and sidewalk cafes.

 

After lunch at Northern Waters Smokehouse, famous for their smoked meats and fish (yes, it was delish!) we took a walk to the US Corp of Engineers Maritime Vistors Center.

Everyone here is so nice. We were invited to sit with some young kids (early 20's) for lunch. Really had a great time chatting up politics and the local scene with them.

 

We really enjoyed reading about the shipping industry on the Great Lakes, the shipwrecks and how the iron ore is loaded onto the big cargo ships.

Captain, my captain...looking good.

 

Here's the billboard that shows what ships will be coming in, with what cargo, time, length, etc.

 

 

 

That inspired us to hang out at the aerial bridge and watch for incoming ships. We watched a US Coast Guard Ship try and navigate thru the channel. It was crazy how big the swells became.

 

Food truck, Duluth style. Dry-docked boat selling donuts.

 

 

View of the Duluth skyline.

We decided this place was too cold for these Californians. BTW - we were wearing long-pants, long sleeve shirts and jackets. The locals were in flip-flops and short sleeves. Everything is relative I guess.

We decided to head south, closer to Minneapolis, for warmer weather.

Heading thru one of the small towns. Love the water tower shaped Iike a tea kettle.

When we pulled into the campground at 7ish tonight, the weather was back to the mid-80's. Once again changing back into our shorts and t-shirts. The mid-west has crazy weather.

 

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Madeline Island - Camping on Lake Superior

Location: Big Bay State Park, Madeline Island, WI

Today our adventures led us to Madeline Island in Lake Superior, next to The Apostle Islands. Seven years ago we stayed on this island in the fall. It was cold and rained on us the whole time. We vowed to come back and are so glad we experienced it on a hot summer day.

 

 

We caught the ferry from Bayfield midday. As soon as we got on board, I hightailed it to the top deck to get some photos. Uh-oh. Poor Ned was stuck in the van squished between several cars. They really pack the cars on like sardines. Here's Ned trying to climb out the window.

 

 

A view of the town of Bayfield as we head over to Madeline Island.

 

We decided the best way to explore the island was on bikes. We put another 20 miles or so on the odometer and found some really beautiful spots. Lake Superior is way too cold to swim in, but there are tons of kayakers and canoers enjoying the summer day.

I'm still amazed at how clear this water is.

 

 

We stopped along the way to take in some hikes. Here's Ned out on a point.

 

We decided to ride into the "town" of LaPointe. It consists of 2 blocks. However, what it lacks in size it makes up for in vibe. There's a definitely beach, art community that thrives during the months of June thru October. After that, I think there are only about 100 people that live on the island.

There were some tunes and good times coming from this place.

We opted for the ice cream shop and enjoyed just hanging out watching the tourists go by.

A favorite way to get around the island is on scooter. Fun to watch the tourists buzz by.

 

 

 

 

 

I just love some of the creative art displays in town. This one inspired me to recreate this when I get home. (Denise, Miss Master Gardner, want to help?)

 

 

The island has more wildflowers than I've ever seen. Fields of brightly colored flowers are everywhere.

Here's Ned riding next to some lupine. (What's that in his pocket? A local magazine for me and some mustard he picked up in town for the brats tonight....in case you're wondering).

 

Yep, I'm always happiest on my bike. We've clocked 200 miles so far this trip.

 

 

 

Before we left Bayfield, we made a stop at a fish market we had discovered in the fall of 2009. It had the best smoked whitefish we had ever tasted. We've compared many a smoked whitefish to this place and no one ever came close. We bought some and dang...it is still the best! I don't know how much longer they'll be around, but if you are even in Bayfield, WI do yourself a favor and stop in.

 

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